Memory – Integration – Encoding
by pre.
In the first lap around the spiral we looked at memory encoding, developed some techniques for finding good associative links to enable you to remember things, building the things you want to remember up into chunks and then associating those chunks with a well remembered thing. For example, using the Loki Method to store things in imaginary positions in a well known route.
Obviously a good memory is a helpful ability in just about every walk of life, including the pursuit of improvement of the other mental skills in our spiral. Getting good at memorisation takes time and practice, but your skills have been growing slowly as you have done so, and should continue to grow as you practice more. That ability will filter into improving all the other skills in the spiral.
With Memory Encoding in particular, the skill is to quickly and efficiently associate a thing you need to remember with something that will remind of of that thing and then burn it deeply and wilfully into your memory with strong visualisation and emotional significance. The more your practice doing that, the more second nature it will become.
In order to actually benefit from your memorisation techniques in real life you have to remember to use them, which means keeping an awareness of the fact you have these skills in your mind at all time. Not only do you need to be aware of the things you want to memorize in order to commit them to memory, but also an improved awareness will remind you more often to use those techniques. Classic feedback effects, each skill in the spiral supporting the growth of the others.
Likewise for your ability to be in control of your moods, your self possession, your very state of consciousness at any given time. We’ve seen how remembering an event vividly can push your consciousness towards the mood it was in when you experienced that event. Control over your memory leads to improved control over your consciousness which in turn leads to a better understanding and use of your memory. Remembering happy things makes you happy, so having good recall is key in mood control.
With enough consciousness, and enough memory of the events of your life, you begin to learn the ability to reason, your cognition improves immeasurably for each rule of logic you can memorize, each counter-example you can bring to mind, every common fallacy to remember to avoid.
Simply the ability to remember people’s names makes a massive difference to a person’s social skills, let alone being able to recall every conversation you have with a person, what makes them happy, what memories you can share with them to remind them of good times and so begin to influence the consciousness of other people too.
All these feedback effects into your abilities with the other skills in the spiral come from a fast, and deliberate even reflexive use of memory encoding skills. And you will only develop that kind of reflex though practice. Just as with enough practice at reading you can look at a written word and simply know what it means, so you can build your memory skills until you can look at anything and have it effortlessly slide into memory but you must practice.
The Meditation
With all that in mind, we will present a meditation at the end of this month to help you to learn to do these things during a stroll around your world, practising your memory skills as you walk.